Ready to Run

In front of the sculpted, outstretched arms of the Moses sculpture in Washington Park, Albany City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan addressed a small crowd on Saturday (Nov. 17) afternoon. “I am not running against anyone, I am running for mayor and with your help, I am confident that we will win,” she said.

This announcement ended rumors that Sheehan might run, and finalized her candidacy in the 2013 Albany mayoral race. As she spoke, around 75 Sheehan supporters stood behind her podium and raised signs reading, “Kathy Sheehan, Democrat for Mayor.”

One of Sheehan’s focuses, she said, will be on crafting a “fiscally sustainable” city government. She added, “It is time to use my experience to tackle the truly serious challenges we face in Albany—poverty, inequality, disinvestment and an inefficient city government.”

Sheehan will likely face at least one opponent—Mayor Jerry Jennings, a five-term Democrat incumbent who has not yet said that he will seek a sixth term, but who has also not denied that he will seek reelection. Other possible contenders include Corey Ellis, the ex-3rd Ward councilman who ran a tight primary race against Jennings in 2009, and Albany City School Board President Dan Egan.

Albany has had only three mayors since 1941, and Sheehan, if elected, would be Albany’s first female mayor. In a press release following Saturday’s announcement, Sheehan acknowledged that the race would not be easy and concluded, “I’m ready. I will visit every neighborhood, knock on doors, meet in your living rooms, on street corners, whatever it takes to talk with voters about my vision for moving our city forward.”